Chosen by Sin Read online

  He kissed her lips. She could tell he regretted talking to her so harshly. She knew he wanted to give her what she wanted. What she needed. But he couldn’t. He’d never think of Bodin of Hammersham with anything but utter hatred.

  “At least my grandfather did one damn thing in his life that was good. He saved you,” he whispered before kissing her and sweeping her up into his arms again.

  She curled into him. She may not have told him everything, but hopefully she’d told him enough. She couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not ever.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Vanessa Morrison stared at Zeph as if he was insane. He hadn’t thought it was possible for the beautiful woman to look as ugly as her insides, but he’d been wrong. She looked positively hideous.

  “You’ve been in contact with your brother and you expect me to believe this isn’t a trap? You forget, I’m intimately acquainted with the procedure that enables vampires to lie.”

  No shit, Zeph thought. The Quorum had been the one to apply that little “procedure” to him and he still had nightmares about it sometimes. Vampire biology was designed to prevent them from lying and reversing such age-old instincts had taken a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears, all on his part. As soon as she saw the expression on Zeph’s face, she instinctively cringed. She’d probably be doing more than cringing if it weren’t for the vamp stun guns her bodyguards constantly had locked on him, whether they were talking or fucking. Just once he’d love to see her cowering in terror, knowledge of her imminent death in her eyes. “Knox came to me, not the other way around,” he said softly. “I’m merely delivering a message. One I think you should listen to if you want humanity to survive the coming Armageddon.”

  “Again, why should I believe anything you let alone your brother says?”

  It was the same thing he’d asked Knox when his brother had arranged for them to meet at their preplanned spot. Knox had delivered Mahone’s message clearly but with obvious reluctance. He knew Knox’s hesitation was about not wanting to endanger Zeph just as much as it was about not wanting to go to the enemy for help. The fact that Knox had done what Mahone asked despite his misgivings told Zeph how critical the situation was.

  “I don’t expect you to believe Knox,” he said. “I didn’t simply take my brother’s word on this, either. I talked to my own contacts. And I’m encouraging you to talk to yours. I’m sure I’m not the only Otherborn you’ve managed to turn against his own kind. If you have shape-shifters on your payroll or otherwise under your thumb, talk to them. Have them confirm what Knox has said. If they don’t, we’ll know Knox has uncovered the means to vampire falsity himself. Otherwise, I’d advise you to take his request seriously.”

  She still looked suspicious. “That assumes I’d trust a shape-shifter any more than I’d trust you. Which I don’t.”

  “Fine. Then deal with the consequences.” Despite the urgency driving him, Zeph pretended to examine his nails in a “you can die for all I care” way. If it was just her, of course, that would be true, but how could they risk a demon takeover of the world? “I’m not too keen on seeing what a world run by hell demons will look like, but I am immortal.” He raised his gaze and pierced her with a look. He wished he could simply persuade her, but she was never without the gold that blocked vampire powers. In any event, Mahone had been quite clear about giving Vanessa the leeway she needed to hang herself. “I have no doubt I will live to see it.”

  He turned and walked out of the room. He was already to the front door, vamp stunners trained on him the whole way, when she stopped him.

  “Wait,” she said. “What has your brother offered in exchange for my help in this matter?”

  “Nothing. He believes you’ll help because you want humanity to survive.”

  “Then your brother isn’t as smart as he’s rumored to be.”

  Zeph rolled his eyes. “Believe me, he’s smarter. I’m the only chance you’ve had of defeating him, and now…well, let’s just say I’m willing to suffer Otherborn integration into human society a little while longer if it means keeping demons out of the mix.”

  “Stop,” she commanded.

  “Look,” he said in an irritated voice. “I delivered the message. If you’re not going to do what Knox has asked, then I’d just as soon get the hell out of here and enjoy what time I have left in the world as I know it.”

  “I’ll do what you’ve suggested.”

  He couldn’t help it. He whirled around in surprise.

  She smiled tightly. “I’ll get in touch with my contacts. And if I have reason to believe what your brother has told you, I’ll consider helping. But only under one condition.”

  “I told you. Knox isn’t going to negotiate with you. Not about this.”

  “Maybe not. But perhaps you will.”

  “I’m already on your payroll, Vanessa. You don’t have to bribe me.” And please don’t let her be talking about sex because he wasn’t sure he could stomach sleeping with her right now, even to seal this deal. Hearing Knox’s voice had reminded him of all he’d lost in recent months. His torture had been twice as intense because he’d wanted to ask about Felicia. He hadn’t, of course. His longing for his brother’s wife was so bad he was sure Knox would have heard it in his voice.

  “Just the same, I want to make my offer,” the First Lady insisted. “You support the Quorum’s goal to divide humans from Otherborn, but you harbor love for your family and clan. You want them to survive. I believe you’d be willing to give me something special to help them.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I want you to turn me into a vampire.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Several days had passed since Jes had told Dex about her connection with his grandfather. Since then, she hadn’t said another word about Bodin, and even though Dex had been tempted to question her about it—how well she knew his grandfather, how long she’d stayed with him before he brought her to the Draci, if his grandfather had ever mentioned Dex or his mother—he managed not to do so. Their closeness was still new and fragile, their future uncertain. He didn’t want to cause more strife between them. As each day passed without them discussing the elephant in the room, he found it easier and easier to put it out of his mind.

  Her belly was round now. At two-and-a-half weeks, the baby was moving. “It’s amazing,” Jes had breathed at one point. “It’s growing so fast. I don’t think it will take the full month.” She’d hugged Dex tight. “It might decide to be born this week!”

  She’d laughed, the sound trembling with joy, and Dex had felt the same joy course through him. One week and he’d be a father? It was so fast, but he’d fallen in love with Jes in virtually the same amount of time.

  Dex’s cell phone rang but he ignored it, just the way he’d been ignoring it for the past few days. He didn’t want to talk to Mahone. He didn’t want to talk to any of the Para-Ops team, even Lucy. Instead, he wanted to hold reality at bay for just a little longer. He knew it was a dereliction of his duties. That he’d sworn to protect and serve the citizens of the U.S., Otherborn and human alike. But he was so damn tired of acting solely out of duty. If things were critical enough, Knox could damn well teleport to France and find him. Until then, he’d concentrated on binding Jes to him more and more. He lavished her with love and affection in a way he’d never allowed himself before, and he lavished that attention on their baby as well.

  “Where is the baby going to sleep?” he asked as they lay in bed together, their bodies still warm from their recent lovemaking. He plumped her breast in his hand. As always, he was fascinated by the resilient, smooth flesh but now he was even more fascinated by the way it and its companion had swelled in size. Like her ever-expanding abdomen, the pregnancy was making itself more apparent with almost every hour that passed. He placed a gentle kiss on both her nipples, then covered her stomach with his hand.

  He often tried picturing the babe, but despite the knowledge that the baby would inherit Jes’s vampire traits, he’d
never actually seen a newborn vampire. Would it have silver hair? Would its eyes be black or that hazy blue that human babies often had before their true eye color emerged? A part of him had even begun to contemplate names, and he wondered what Jes would think of the name Elliott…

  “It’ll sleep with us. Here. In a bassinette.”

  She stroked his hair and he closed his eyes to savor her touch. Now that he’d let her in, Dex had been the happy recipient of Jes’s affectionate nature. She loved touching him almost as much as she loved being touched by him, he realized, grinning to himself.

  “I’ve set up a meeting between you and the shape-shifters,” Jes said.

  Involuntarily, he stiffened and sat up.

  “I’ve asked Cy to accompany you, and he’s agreed,” she continued and began to fiddle with her own hair. The dark dye had faded enough that hints of her natural silver color peeked through. She’d commented that she needed to dye it again, but he’d begged her to wait just a little longer.

  Begged her, he realized.

  Her words and his realization combined to leave him with a feeling of unease. Who was he? Had he transformed into his true self or merely a shell of who he’d once been?

  Wincing, he rubbed at the sudden pinch in his chest, and even that was enough to alarm him. He’d run miles with an open wound and felt far more pain every time he shifted. Yet now he was rubbing at the smallest of twinges?

  He abruptly stood, stalked to his clothes, and jerked them on.

  “Dex? Did you hear what I said about Cy?”

  He glanced at her. She was sitting up now, still naked, her knees bent and her arms wrapped around them. He could see the ample sides of her breasts and the tease of pink flesh peeking out here and there. He was tempted to climb back into bed with her before he remembered her question.

  “I heard what you said,” Dex mumbled. “And of course Cy agreed to go with me. Cy will do any damn thing you ask him to.” Not that Dex had seen much of the dragon-shifter lately. Why was that? Did Cy simply want to avoid seeing Dex and Jesmina together? Avoid seeing Jes as she plumped up, ripening right along with the baby inside her?

  “Dex, let’s not make this about Cy and me.”

  “Why not? After all, you sent him for me. You seem to know each other pretty well. Very well,” he amended. He knew he sounded like an ass, but it still bothered him that Cy knew more about Jes than he did. He was slowly getting to know more about her, but he had to face the ugly truth—over the past few days, he hadn’t just refrained from asking her about Bodin, he’d avoided asking her much of anything at all.

  He knew her favorite color was pink, that she adored gelato, and that even though she couldn’t derive nutrition from his blood, sinking her fangs into his inner thigh was enough to make her orgasm right along with him. But they didn’t discuss deeper, more treacherous things. Like how far she was willing to go to find the secret to prolonging life. Like whether she’d ask their child to undergo the same kind of blood tests she’d asked of Ella—

  Stop, he commanded himself. Don’t go there. Like Jes told you, Ella’s considered an adult among the Draci. Jes wouldn’t ask that of an ordinary child, certainly not her own…

  Would she?

  His niggling doubt was enough to make him to glower at her. “Nothing to say about Cy?”

  She threw back the sheet and pulled on her clothes. He wanted to weep at the sight of all that pale flesh being covered up. But her “He’s like a brother to me,” comment made him snort at her naiveté.

  “Believe me, the feelings he has for you are far from brotherly.”

  Something flickered across her face. Something that made him curse and pounce on it. “You knew? Yet you let him wander around, giving him free rein?”

  “Don’t be absurd, Dex. Cy’s expressed interest before but that doesn’t mean I’m going to banish him from my life. Especially because we both know why he’d be prone to have a crush on me. He knows loving a Draci can have certain consequences, so why not turn his attention to a vampire female who he believed to be sterile?”

  He supposed that made sense. But there was something about the way she’d looked just now, something that told him Cy hadn’t been the only one to suffer from a crush. “So you were never tempted to make your relationship with him into something more intimate?”

  “I didn’t say that.” She put her hands on her hips. “But if I was briefly tempted, I didn’t act on it. I could have, of course. I wasn’t in a relationship at the time.”

  “You damn well are now,” he roared, causing her to stare at him in amazement.

  “I know that, Dex. Believe me, it’s a little hard to ignore given the baby growing inside me.” Her expression softened as she approached. When she stood before him, she lifted both hands to frame his face as she often did. “And I’ve never been happier,” she said softly. “You have no reason to be jealous. I haven’t had sex with anyone—haven’t even thought about having sex with anyone—since the day I met you.”

  The relief he felt was instantaneous. Because of her confession, however, he couldn’t help thinking that, unlike her, he’d had sex with another female after he’d met her, and he’d thought about having sex with Lucy again even after he’d had Jes. Granted, Lucy had declined but— Jes must have seen uneasiness in his expression because she dropped her hands and narrowed her eyes.

  “Let me ask you this, Dex. After we had sex in L.A., have you wanted to have sex with any other female?”

  He stared dumbly at her, like a damn animal caught in a hunter’s crosshairs. Dimly, he wondered if his mouth was opening and closing like a caught trout struggling to breathe.

  “Still helping Lucy out?” she asked lightly, even though he saw the hurt she was feeling.

  He lifted his hand but she flinched away from him, so he let it drop to his side.

  He had two choices—let the guilt swallow him or defend himself. Apparently some of his survival instincts had managed to stick around because he said, “I didn’t sleep with Lucy after we were together. I mean, I offered but she said no and—”

  Jes paled and clutched at her stomach, as if she suddenly felt nauseas. Goddess help me, he thought, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Like always, Dex needed to get himself out of this mess.

  “What I mean is, she’s decided to deal with the heat on her own. I thought you knew about Lucy and the bargain we’d struck. It’s not like—”

  “What?” she sneered, obviously ready to throw down the gauntlet. “It’s not like you enjoyed it? Come on, you really expect me to believe that? Lucy’s beautiful!”

  He could hardly deny that so he did the smartest thing he could think of—nothing. Until, despite himself, he smiled. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t enjoy hurting her, but he’d been the one acting like a jealous ass; to know she wasn’t immune to the same irrational feelings heartened him. It made him feel more confident about the feelings they had for one another.

  “You think this is funny?” she hissed in disbelief.

  “What? Of course not.” Dex wiped the smile off his face, but obviously not fast enough for her. “Look, Lucy really likes you,” he began, trying to appease her.

  “And I really like Lucy,” she emphasized. “I know she only turned to you out of desperation, nothing more.”

  “So what’s the problem then?”

  “Nothing.” She stomped her foot.

  “Then come here and give me a hug,” he challenged. Looking at her all flushed and squinty-eyed, with her newly plump breasts quivering and her belly sticking out made him hot and hard. Was this their first fight? Because he’d never had make-up sex before. From what he’d heard, it could be damn good…

  She smiled sweetly at him. “Sorry, but I’ve got a date with some shampoo and a carton of ice cream.” She whirled around, stomped into the bathroom, and slammed the door. He heard the lock being thrown into place. “Hurry up and find Cy or you’re going to be late for that meeting,” she called.

 
It took Dex a moment before he could react. All he managed to say was a soft, “Shit.” But when he left, he left with another smile on his face.

  ***

  PARIS, FRANCE

  Several hours later, Dex was back at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. This time, there were pockets of tourists outside, but he and Cy followed Jes’s instructions until they found a secret door near the bronze statue of Michael and the serpent. They traveled down a dark corridor until they came to a small room lit with primitive torches on the wall. Waiting for them were the three diregeants he’d spoken to just before Trosseau had gone apeshit and attacked him. He wasn’t inclined to believe the trio didn’t know anything about that.

  “Well, would you look at this,” Dex drawled. “If it isn’t the shape-shifter equivalent of Larry, Moe, and Curly.”

  Next to him, Cy elbowed him in the side.

  “What?” Dex asked innocently.

  “We’re not surprised to hear you being so cavalier, Mr. Hunt,” the shape-shifter spokesperson, still positioned between the other two, said. “A shame, really, given that Trosseau sacrificed his life as a result of trying to help you.”

  “Trosseau tried to kill me,” Dex responded. “At least, someone made damn sure it looked like that. I’m thinking it was a diabol. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

  “It could very well have been a diabol. We never denied knowledge of the trouble brewing. Only that we needed help from outsiders.”

  “And you’ve changed your mind about wanting help from this outsider because…?”

  The shape-shifters smiled eerily in that synchronized way they had.

  Next to him, Cy winced. “This is damn freaky,” he whispered.

  Dex grunted. “Stick around. I think it’s going to get freakier.”

  “Despite our warnings that you leave, you didn’t. You’ve been asking questions about shape-shifter murders. You even contacted a mage in the Montpeyroux Village and asked her to perform a protective spell for you. Why?”